Spring in my Steps

Well, to quote the song - "It may be winter outside, but in my heart it's Spring...". The clocks may have leapt forward into Spring but the weather seems to have lurched back into the gloom of winter...
But I will not be deterred, we all wish for Spring so much at the moment, it's been a long, long winter.



So I shall pick the hyacinths from the garden



Contain my birdwatching to the pages of an old lovely book



Dream of all the lovely Spring colours that will soon be around (I spotted my first tree in blossom yesterday)
Keep my fingers crossed for some sunshine and time in the garden
Content myself with gorgeous little snippets of Soring from the Persephone book I am reading at the moment, "Hostages to Fortune" by Elizabeth Cambridge.
Be eternally grateful to a lovely friend, who, as I type, is queuing in the baker's for me for the best Hot Cross Buns in town!
Hope that we can get in at least two Easter egg hunts this weekend...



And wish you all a very Happy Easter x

Roses In Wonderland ...

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend. We had a lovely time despite the weather. From the minute Mr Roses stopped worked on Wednesday evening until yesterday afternoon, the sun disappeared and went to shine elsewhere and we almost gave up hope of spending any time outdoors at all. However, we crammed in as much as possible in between all the chocolate eating and, well, I was going to show you what we got up to in chronological order and save the best till last, but hey ho, how could I hide these spring-filled photos from you for any longer. We'll come back to grey skies on another day.



So yesterday we decided to go out whatever the weather. In search of blue skies, open spaces and flowers...



Having driven all the way over to Batemans (more on that another post) it felt silly not to take advantage of being only half an hour away from here:



One of my favourite places to visit. The last time we visited Sissinghurst was a few years ago at the end of summer. The garden was beautiful and the place worked its magic ....



This time I must admit to worrying that I would be disappointed at seeing the place again so early in Spring. Having watched the TV series, read the book, worn the T shirt etc I kept my fingers crossed.



Well I was not disappointed. I felt like Alice falling down the rabbit hole, discovering a true Spring wonderland that left me grinning like the cheshire cat for the rest of the day.



Once again we climbed the Tower, taking in Vita's study (what a wonderful, wonderful room) and gazed across the gardens and surrounding land in amazement.



Seen from above,



the gardens were just unbelievably tempting.



Each with its own individual character.



Close up,



in detail they were stunning.



The beauty of the brickwork allowed to shine alongside the climbing plants.



Carpets of flowers



Blankets



of bulbs



Beauty on a large scale



The famous white garden beginning to bloom



Lovely to read and see that new projects are moving ahead at Sissinghurst too



and we're so looking forward to returning in a couple of months to see the developments.



How could you fail not to be moved and optimistic after seeing all this?



My garden seemed unnaturally small when we came home and the 100 bulbs I planted the other week seemed very few in number but I didn't feel dejected.



The joy that Vita Sackville West and Harold Nicolson shared in their garden is hugely infectious and whilst I know I will never achieve a lot of what I saw, my head is brimming full of colour schemes and planting ideas - just need a white rabbit to take me back there a bit more often.

Happy Easter

Just hopped over to wish you all a really Happy Easter weekend. Keep an eye out for that bunny, I'm sure he's on his way ...
x

Easter eggs and snowfall

Well that's it, Easter over and instead of gamboling into Spring, the arrival of the holiday weekend brought a return to winter. Perhaps one of the coldest of winter weekends too! Was I alone in feeling that Easter Sunday morning felt more like Christmas than Christmas? As we sat eating breakfast and eyeing up the Easter eggs it was very strange to see the snow falling in the garden. So it was a cold, grey squally weekend here but by no means miserable. The snow not thick enough for outdoor fun but cold enough to make us go into "hibernation mode", which is not such a bad thing when you think about it.



Once we realised that the usual Easter walks and hunts would have to be put on hold for a while the huge pile of chocolate that was amassing in the kitchen brought its own comfort! I had planned to do some much needed gardening but managed only a brief spell outside on Friday between the showers. I managed to plant a couple of shrubs but held back from sowing any seeds as it was just too cold. I'm going to try planting some chard in big pots this year to see how they grow, it might do better in pots away from the snails, slugs and cats. I also bought these poppy seeds in Woolies the other day. I was drawn to their colour and frilliness and it was only when I was paying for them I noticed that they were Laura Ashley seeds! Produced in association with Johnsons seeds admittedly, but still Laura Ashley. Two days earlier I noticed in the Cath Kidston shop that they are now selling their own CK washing up liquid and fabric washing liquid range. I wonder why these companies feel the need to increasingly extend their range of products so much?



Saturday and Sunday were spent rolling around the house, eating chocolate, grandparents visiting us and more, much more, eating of chocolate. Little sister and big sister both insisted on egg hunts with clues which were a lot of fun. Big sister having one of those teenager moments in which she was so adamant that she knew the answer to her clue that she spent 20 minutes in the rain sorting through the recycling boxes looking for her choccie eggs ( a real mix of determination and stubborness and complete dedication to chocolate!) As if we'd be that mean - it was under the lettuce in the fridge of course, but would she listen?!!



Our hibernation ended yesterday when we visited some friends for lunch and more chocolate. They live in one of our favourite parts of the city, on the seafront in one of these gorgeous Regency crescents. A walk along on the beach wasn't on the cards as the weather was cold again by the time we'd finished all that eating. But we couldn't have planned for a nicer day - friends, family and chocolate, all in all a good weekend.



A belated thank you now to Jennie and twiggy who both gave me this award. Thanks to both of you! I am meant to pass the award on - I find it hard to do this part of the award thing, not because I don't want to pass it on but because I don't want to choose from all of you who read this blog. So please consider this award passed on to you all and if you've got time pop over to say hello to Jennie and Twiggy too.

Happy Easter

A bunch of flowers for you this Easter.
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend filled with fun and family. Not much fresh air on the cards for us - the forecast for us is SNOW! (indoor Easter egg hunts here we come).



Nearly as exciting as the prospect of all of these



Enjoy your weekend and Happy Easter!